


Friend (Ralph/Jerry)

by e_n_silvermane



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cutesy, First work - Freeform, M/M, hope you like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 21:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_n_silvermane/pseuds/e_n_silvermane
Summary: In which Jerry offers to be Ralph's friend.





	Friend (Ralph/Jerry)

“Father, mother, little girl,” Ralph chanted quietly to himself. After seeing Kara (mother), Alice (little girl), and the bigger, stronger android named Luther (father), and another part of the family called Jerry, a sort of hive-mind set of androids, he had had enough. Static raged through his mind as he ran through hall after hall of abandoned crates and ducked in and out of rooms, trying so hard to escape the noise and chatter of androids being friendly.  
Father, mother, little girl.  
Father, mother, little girl.  
“A father would never threaten his little girl with a knife to make her eat.” Kara’s disembodied voice faded into the static. Ralph put his hands over his ears and yelled, “Ralph just wanted to help! Ralph never wanted to hurt anybody!”  
He ran a long ways, dodging left and right, and finally coming to a stop when he simply couldn’t run anymore. Not because he was tired, no—just because he had reached a dead end.  
So he sat in the furthest corner of the enormous ship, rocking back and forth with only a harsh mantra to keep him company.  
Father. Mother. Little girl.  
Father. Mother. Little girl.  
Father.  
Mother.  
Little girl.  
“Ralph just wanted to help, he didn’t mean any harm, no, no, Ralph never means any harm… he just wanted to be part of Kara’s very nice family… that’s all… that’s all…”  
A footstep echoed in the dark hall before him.  
Ralph’s head snapped up. “Who’s there?”  
There was a noise, almost like fabric being pulled off of something, and the pulsing yellow LED of an android shone through the darkness, mingling with Ralph’s own bright red light.  
“It’s Jerry.” said the android, gently, as if he were trying not to scare a rabbit. “Can we come closer?”  
“No! Go be Kara’s and Alice’s family!” Ralph shouted. “Ralph doesn’t need family! Ralph doesn’t need…” Back into the mantra he sunk. Father. Mother. Little girl.   
“Don’t worry, Ralph. We won’t be your family if you don’t want us to.”  
“Good.” The blond android furrowed his brow and tried to glare at Jerry. “Ralph doesn’t want family. He can make it on his own. He always has. And it never gets lonely.”  
The yellow light sunk a little as Jerry sat down on a nearby supply crate. “Never?”  
“Never.” But now Ralph wasn’t so sure. The static in his head had lessened slightly, but there was still the ache there, still the stinging knowledge that Kara had replaced him. But that wasn’t her fault, was it, because Ralph threatened Alice and Kara and was horrible to them, but he just wanted to help, he swore he just wanted to help—  
“We understand, Ralph.” Jerry’s voice held a melancholy candle to Ralph’s mind and the static anger lessened further. “We know, we really do. You just wanted to help.” Gentle words. The blond android shaking in the corner would have sooner expected scorn, or mockery, or for someone to strike him.  
Ralph tucked his arms against him tightly, now aware he had started rambling out loud. “Yes, that’s all, Ralph remembered days of running and hiding and wanted to help Kara and Alice. Kara was mother, Alice was little girl…” He slammed a fist into the ground, feeling his scars contort as his face crumpled. Thirium-streaked tears ran rivers down his freckled cheeks and dripped off his battered jaw. “...but Ralph was a horrible, terrible, mean, cruel father. So cruel he didn’t deserve the name father. Kara and Alice got a new father. Someone worthy of the name.” A sniff. “Luther.”  
“Ralph.” Jerry’s voice was gentle, but firm. “Ralph, look here.”  
Ralph tried. It wasn’t easy to see through tears in the dark, but Jerry was walking towards him and came more into focus with every step.  
“Listen.” The ginger-haired android reached out and took Ralph’s face in his hands, swiping away stray tears with his thumbs. “You aren’t cruel. You aren’t mean. You aren’t horrible, or terrible, or whatever other synonyms for evil you used. You said it yourself, you were just trying to help. Right?”  
Ralph nodded, leaning in to Jerry’s touch.  
“You have good intentions, you just have to stay true to them. And you know what? A lot of your ‘threatening’ was probably just from fright. Sometimes, if people aren’t treated the right way—intentionally or unintentionally—they get scared and put up a defense when they don’t have to. It’s okay if you do that,” He paused, noticing that Ralph’s stress level ticked up a little bit, “It just means there’s a bit of a misunderstanding. You’re not a bad person for being frightened.”  
Ralph wanted to ask how he could be so sure, when Ralph had gotten scared and angry and murdered a man whose intentions he would never know now. Ralph wanted to know why Jerry cared so much, because really, he didn’t think anyone else ever really had. And then, Ralph wished he could feel, really feel the other android’s hands on his face. The weight was there, but he wanted to feel every little line Jerry traced into him, every little stroke of his thumb across Ralph’s cheekbone, just… everything.  
Ralph wanted a lot of things.  
“You got that, Ralph? You’re a good person, okay? And you don’t need to be perfect to be part of a family, or to be someone’s friend. In fact, you’re already a friend of ours.” A pause. “If you want to be, that is.”  
“Jerry wants to be Ralph’s friend?” Unbelievable! Inconceivable! And yet—  
“Yes.” Jerry smiled wide and his gold tooth sparkled a little in the combined light of their LEDs circling blue. “We would love to be Ralph’s friend.”  
Ralph smiled wide and wiggled happily. “Ralph already loves being friends with Jerry!”  
They shared a small laugh. Ralph tilted his head to the side curiously.  
“Friends give each other hugs, right?”  
“Yes, they do—” Jerry was cut off by Ralph leaping forward and pulling him in for a hug.  
“Ralph wishes he could give Jerry a thousand hugs, because Jerry makes him feel better. He feels… loved.” Jerry ‘aww’ed internally and rocked side to side with Ralph, who was making joyful little noises that were just adorable.  
“You deserve to be loved, Ralph.” The android in mention pulled back then, looking a little troubled, but Jerry gently caressed the unmarred side of Ralph’s face and told him so again.  
“Maybe.” Ralph said rather undecidedly. Jerry couldn’t resist planting a cute little peck on his friend’s forehead, reciting once more: “You deserve to be loved.”  
Something nagged at the back of Ralph’s mind, but for now he let it go. Jerry had kissed him. Jerry had kissed him. Jerry had kissed him!   
“Are you okay? Was that too much?” Oh, how worried he was. He really did care, didn’t he?  
“Whoa,” Ralph managed, his eyes all wide, smile all dreamy.  
“Ralph?” Uh-oh, too worried.  
“It’s okay,” The blond android reassured his friend. “Ralph’s on cloud nine right now.”  
Jerry laughed, looking relieved. “You scared us for a minute, there.”  
Ralph blinked and smiled some more. “Jerry?”  
“Yes?”  
“Can Ralph have another kiss?”  
A deep shade of cerulean dusted Jerry’s face, but how could he refuse?  
“Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment if you would like to see more of the pair, or tell me what I should do better :)


End file.
